


On Ramp

by NewbSombrero



Series: Life is a Highway [1]
Category: Cars (Pixar Movies)
Genre: Butch/Femme, F/F, First Conversation, Humanized Cars (Pixar Movies), Immediately after Cars (2006), Mack is a lesbian, background Doc/Lightning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:22:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24171244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NewbSombrero/pseuds/NewbSombrero
Summary: Mack and Sally can both see how Doc and Lightning are falling for each other, and that’s something worth talking about
Relationships: Doc Hudson/Lightning McQueen, Mack/Sally
Series: Life is a Highway [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1744564
Comments: 10
Kudos: 12





	On Ramp

**Author's Note:**

> So objectlesson’s Doc/Lightning fics got me inspired, and I got to thinking about this scene and how it can develop into a ship. I’ve got more stories planned for these two, so I hope you like it :)

Mack pulls up the bar and takes a seat. McQueen may not have officially won that Piston Cup, but that doesn’t make her any less proud of the bastard. 

“What can I get for you, hun?”

“Let’s start with just a Coke. Still don’t know if I’m gonna have to drive tonight.”

As Mack takes a sip of her drink, she looks over and sees McQueen at the other end of the bar talking to his new crew chief, that Hudson guy. The hotshot has a dangerous look on his face. 

“Jesus fucking Christ, McQueen, what the hell are you doing?” she mutters under her breath. 

“Looks to me like Stickers is just celebrating with his crew chief, but I’ll guess that, knowing him better, you see something else.” The owner of the voice approaches the bar and sits next to Mack, a mess of dark curls kept back from her face in a ponytail. “The name’s Sally, from Radiator Springs.”

“Mack.” She shakes the offered hand and nods toward McQueen. “Hotshot over there doesn’t smile like that after a race, not even a win. This is something else.” She takes a sip of her coke before changing the subject. “I appreciate what y’all did for him while he was in that town of yours, by the way. It was only a couple weeks, but he did a lot of growing up. I can tell y’all took good care of him.”

Sally blushes at that, and Mack can’t quite make sense of why. Probably some bit of context she’ll have to ask Lightning about. “I can't really take any credit for that. It was mostly Doc.” Yeah that was the bit that had Mack worried.

“What’s his deal anyway? I feel like I recognize his face from somewhere, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.”

Sally seems like she has to think about that one. She takes a sip of her drink (gin and Sprite) before speaking. “Well, far as any of us in town knew, he was just a good upstanding guy running the garage in town. He‘ll fix your car for a reasonable price and give you a word of advice if you ask real nicely, but that’s probably not what you’re asking.” Sally chuckles. “Apparently, he used to drive The Fabulous Hudson Hornet and was a big deal in racing. That’s what McQueen says anyway.”

The recognition finally clicks into place for Mack with that. “Wow, no wonder he seems so starstruck. I just hope for his sake that’s all it is.”

Sally cocks an eyebrow at that. “What else would it be?”

Mack mentally kicks herself for saying that but aloud. She doesn’t even know if Lightning is out to the folks in Radiator Springs. 

“Okay look, I didn’t say that, okay? If he hasn’t told you about that part of his life, then you don’t need to know about it.”

Sally sits back in her seat a bit. “Okay. That’s fine. I just ask because, if you meant what I think you did, I hope so too, cause I don’t think Doc would be willing to let himself accept it, no matter how much he seems to want to. I’m convinced he’s decided he’s gonna die alone.” A sip of her drink. “You know, just between us girls.” A wink. 

Mack is taken aback by that. She lets out a breath. “Okay, sure.” She tries to smile a bit, seem natural. “Just between us girls, I’m worried the kid is over there catching feelings, but again, you didn’t hear it. Not from me, not from anyone.” Fuck she’s too sober to deal with this. How did it escalate so quickly? 

“Of course I didn’t.” She feigns a look of confusion. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about.” 

“There you go.” Mack takes a sip of her drink, wishing it were more than just cola. “So what was that you were saying about Doc being set on dying alone?”

Sally just nods at that, looking a little sad. “See, the thing you’ve gotta realize about Doc is that he sees his time as pretty much come and gone, and that’s why he gives so much of what he has left to others.” She looks down at her hands holding her drink as she says that, but then she looks up at Mack. “But something’s been different since McQueen came to town. For one thing, he’s been driving again. I don’t know how long Doc’s had that car just sitting parked, but it’s been long enough that everyone thought he just had it for decoration. Lightning changed that.” There’s a light in Sally’s eyes as she says this that catches Mack’s attention.

“Yeah, self centered as he is, McQueen’s got a way of bringing out folks’ enthusiasm.”

The two women sit in silence for a moment, looking neither at each other nor at their friends at the other end of the bar. The longer the silence stretches on, the more Mack wishes she could just disappear. Mack wishes a lot of things in that moment, but she pushes most of them down before she can have a chance to recognize them; that’s something she’s had a lot of practice at her whole life. Then Sally finally speaks up again. 

“What’s it like being on the road with,” a vague gesture in McQueen’s general direction, “all that enthusiasm?”

Mack lets out a breath. “Where do I even start? It can be exhausting, but not in the way you probably think. He’s got this way of assuming that everyone shares his same energy, and he’s pushed me past my limits with that assumption sometimes. I mean, that’s how he ended up there with y’all in the first place. But on race day, that energy can be infectious. For all the pit crews he’s driven away with his narcissism, he’s always been able to get a new one together off that energy, but I guess you’ve seen how Doc, Luigi, and Guido got caught up in that. I really just hope that this time it can last, you know, with that growing up it seems like he’s done.” Mack finishes her drink, hiding from how much talking she’s been doing. 

Sally just sits there and nods, the way her hair catches the light shifting as she does. “I like the way you put that, Mack. Yeah, he’s definitely done a lot of growing up these past couple weeks, and a lot of it’s been driving with Doc. I don’t know; maybe those two are good for each other.”

“I guess we’ll just have to watch and see.” Mack sees the bartender come back by. “Ma’am, can I get a rum and coke?”


End file.
